28 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
attached; but as the branch increases in diameter by acquiring 
new wood, the space between the base of each leaf and the pith 
becomes sensibly augmented; and, in consequence, the fibres, 
by which the leaves were connected with the pith, must have 
necessarily lengthened, in order to admit the deposition of wood 
between the bark and the pith : the bundle of fibres being at 
first composed of spiral vessels only, it is easy to conceive that 
they will be susceptible of elongation by unrolling: the time 
will however arrive, when these vessels being entirely unrolled, 
are incapable of further elongation ; and they will therefore, by 
the force of vegetation, be stretched until they snap : when this 
takes place, the communication between the branch and the 
leaves will be destroyed, and they will necessarily fall off.” It 
seems, after all, most probable that it is to a combination of 
both these supposed causes, that we are to attribute the 
effects which are manifest in the phenomenon of the fall of the 
leaf. 
PRIZE ESSAY. 
ON THE CULTURE AND FORCING OF 
ASPARAGUS. 
By Mr. J. Davison, Gardener to Sir J. Guest, Bart., 
Dowlais, Glamorganshire. 
Among the many plants grown for culinary purposes Asparagus 
ranks as one of the first: it is not only valued as an early 
vegetable, but is highly prized on account of its nutritious quali¬ 
ties. It is hailed with pleasure when it makes its first appearance 
at table ; and it is welcomed by the gardener as being his first 
spring crop. Through the many improvements that have arisen, 
and are still springing up, in the science of gardening, aspa¬ 
ragus is looked on as a winter as well as spring vegetable. To 
grow it for the table in winter it must be accelerated by arti¬ 
ficial means; and in bringing my plan before you, I do not 
boast of having any thing new to offer: it is the result of prac¬ 
tice and experience alone that I lay before you, and I am con¬ 
vinced that if the directions are carefully attended to, they will 
yield the most satisfactory results. 
The cultivated asparagus is the Asparagus officinalis of Lin- 
